- Include a protein with all meals and snacks (if you need snacks). This will help lower the glycaemic load of each meal, i.e. how quickly the sugar levels rise in your blood. With protein, digestion is
slower (as with fibre), meaning blood sugar rises slower and not as high. The slower and less high the blood sugar rises, the less of a drop (or crash!) resulting in cravings, bad mood, lack of energy you will have in a couple of hours.
- Eat whole foods over refined/juices. Again for the added fibre and lowering of GL and also for the added nutrients and most of the nutrients lie just under the skin.
- Buy organic where you can especially for animal products e.g. dairy, meat and eggs. Produce may not necessarily look better but will taste better and are better for you as they have less chemical influence. Xeno oestrogens are rampant in todays world and research suggests are linked via hormone imbalances to formation of tumours, breast cancer and early puberty.
- Start the day with a glass of preferably warm water with a good
squeeze of lemon juice to flush the liver (support detoxification), kick start the metabolism and aid digestion.
- Eat a rainbow a day of 2 fruit and at least 5 servings of vegetables (a serving is a about a small handful e.g. 4 strawberries, or 2 plums or an apple or three florets of broccoli. This will provide a good amount of fibre for blood sugar balance and regular bowel movements and nutrients.Obviously some foods will lie outside the below, however a general rule with food colours can be classed as:Red: reduce cancer risk.Green: promote hormone balance.Blue/Purple: protect cells.White: Reduce inflammation.Yellow/Orange: Strengthen the immune system.
- Eat oily fish three times a week e.g. wild salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines etc to provide omega 3 fatty acids for memory and cognitive function (brain is 70% fat!), reduce inflammation, -
helping with exercise endurance and recovery, "bone" pain, cardiovascular health.
- Use coconut oil or butter for cooking at high temperatures e.g. frying. Heating vegetable oils to smoking point changes their molecular makeup causing them to be inflammatory to the body. You can use these for roasting - best bet is to steam and add afterwards
- 2-3 teaspoons of
milled flaxseeds per day will help to increase natural oestrogen levels . Phytooestrogens help with reducing oestrogen levels slowly rather than having them drop and fluctuating wildly which causes strong menopausal symptoms. They are also high in fibre and omega 3 fatty acids.
- 8 glasses of water or herbal teas a day to enhance detoxification and keep the body hydrated (better skin, concentration and sports performance). Try infused waters too e.g.
a couple slices of lemons and limes or some mint and cucumber....
- Coffee and tea: keep to a maximum of 3 a day of the real stuff i.e. percolated as opposed to instant (gluten), to help with concentration, sports performance. Research also suggests coffee is helping to reduce risk of bowel cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Black tea contains L- theanine which helps to keep you calmly focused as opposed to jittery focused. Most people sleep
better with keeping caffeinated drinks to before 2 pm.
- Eat some kind of fermented food every day e.g. 1 c plain live yoghurt (Rachel's/Yeo Valley), homemade yoghurt (EasiYo), kefir, sauerkraut or kimchi to help gut flora balance. Good gut flora means less chance of bloating, less chance of colds (80% of the immune system lies in the gut) and less chance of depression ( 70% happy feel good hormone serotonin lies within the gut - the brain and gut were
joined together when you were a foetus!). Ever notice how down you can feel after a course of antibiotics?
- If you want or "need" something with such a huge craving - go ahead and eat it!! Chocolate for example - there's no place for guilt, just enjoy it and move on. Don't make a habit of it but there's no point resisting if you're just going to eat it anyway. So in these cases satisfaction is better than added calories of eating everything else and
then finally the chocolate :)...on that note.
- Keep things out of the house (is the chocolate really worth driving to the shop for?!). Keep your cupboards and fridges and freezers packed with real food that will nourish your body. If rubbish foods are in the house- temptation is a devil- you will eat those (and the majority will finish the lot in one sitting), if they're not, then you most likely won't.
Perhaps have one evening to have the something special?
On grocery delivery day we order two bar of Lindt chocolate, and that's the only night we'll eat it (don't feel like it for two/three days after and then really look forward to the next delivery:))
Be prepared with healthy options like rice crackers, Clipper hot chocolate powder, cacao nibs etc. By the way, chocolate cravings have been linked to magnesium insufficiency - so more dark leafy greens and legumes in the diet may help.
Important:
Many problems come up in clinic which can be helped greatly by:
- Chewing food well.
- Keeping an eye on vitamin D levels (Your GP can test if
symptoms show, privately we can test any time (appx.£60.00). Insufficiency is rife in the UK and can manifest itself in ways as poor immunity, depression, low moods, sore bones, arthritis and any autoimmune condition)
- Thyroid issues- usually hypothyroid: fatigue, depression, weight gain, constipation (a general slowing down of the body). GP's can run a routine test. Ref range on NHS = 0.4-4.5. Best level is
2-2.5, so anything over 2.5 can be considered as "Subclinical" hypothyroid. If feel you need more thorough testing we suggest you get some advice towards a more comprehensive test done privately.
- In vegetarians: iron and B12.
The
tips listed above are general advice however, everyone is different with different preferences, dietary needs, in particular allergies/intolerances so please note some suggestions might not be of any help to certain individuals
Remember, you don't have to do all this at once....one thing at a time = success!
Kim
